Includes bibliographical references.

Patterns. Unpromising beginnings ; French resistance ; Tiny dancer ; Wrecking ball ; Last waltz ; Pause for thought: Patterns -- My way. That is the question ; Never let me go ; Hat ; Take my breath away ; Pause for thought: My way -- Naming death. Second-hand news ; Slipping through my fingers ; Talking about the unmentionable ; The sound of silence ; Every breath you take (I'll be watching you) ; Beauty and the Beast ; Pause for thought: Naming death -- Looking beyond the now. In the kitchen at parties ; Please release me--A side ; Please release me--B side ; Travel plans ; With love from me to you ; Pause for thought: Looking beyond the now -- Legacy. Something unpredictable ; The year of the cat ; Post-mortem ; Needles and pins ; Lullaby ; Pause for thought: Legacy -- Transcendence. Musical differences ; Deep dreams ; De profundis ; Perfect day ; "Only the good die young" ; Pause for thought: Transcendence -- Last words.

A palliative care physician draws on stories from her own practice to explain how to enable a gentle and peaceful death and how modern medicine, augmented by traditional palliative approaches, can restore dignity, humanity, and meaning to the end of life.